Part 64 (1/2)
The mob could not endure the steady, well-directed fire of the regulars, and one barricade after another was carried, until the rioters were left uncovered when they fled, shrieking, yelling, cursing in their impotent rage,--the police with their clubs and the soldiers with their rifles following and punis.h.i.+ng them until the streets were clear.
Merwyn, having been on duty all day, obtained a leave of absence till the following morning, and, availing himself of his old device to save time and strength, went to a livery stable near the station-house and obtained a hack by payment of double the usual fare. Mounting the box with the driver, and avoiding crowds, he was borne rapidly towards Mr. Vosburgh's residence. He was not only terribly exhausted, but also consumed with anxiety as to the safety of the girl who had never been absent long from his thoughts, even in moments of the fiercest conflict.
CHAPTER XLIX.
ONE FACING HUNDREDS.
THE evening was growing dusky when Merwyn dismissed his carriage and hastened to Mr. Vosburgh's residence. Marian and her father had waited for him until their faces were clouded with anxiety by reason of his long delay. The young girl's attempt to dine with her father was but a formal pretence.
At last she exclaimed, ”Something must have happened to Mr. Merwyn!”
”Do not entertain gloomy thoughts, my dear. A hundred things besides an injury might have detained him. Keep a good dinner ready, and I think he'll do justice to it before the evening is over.”
Even then the German servant announced his presence at the bas.e.m.e.nt door, which, in view of the disguises worn, was still used as the place of ingress and egress.
Mr. Vosburgh hastened to welcome him, while Marian bustled around to complete her preparations. When he entered the dining-room he did indeed appear weary and haggard, a fair counterpart of the rioters whom he had been fighting.
”Only necessity, Miss Vosburgh, compels me to present myself in this scarecrow aspect,” he said. ”I've had no time or chance for anything better. I can soon report to your father all that is essential, and then can go home and return later.”
”I shall be much hurt if you do so,” said Marian, reproachfully.
”I kept a lunch prepared for you during the afternoon, and now have a warm dinner all ready. It will be very ungracious in you to go away and leave it.”
”But I look like a coal-heaver.”
”Oh, I've seen well-dressed men before. They are no novelty; but a man direct from a field of battle is quite interesting. Will you please take this chair? You are not in the least like my other friends. They obey me without questionings.”
”You must remember,” he replied, ”that the relation is to me as new and strange as it is welcome. I shall need a great deal of discipline.”
”When you learn what a martinet I can be you may repent, like many another who has obtained his wish. Here we shall reverse matters.
Everything is topsy-turvy now, you know, so take this coffee at the beginning of your dinner.”
”I admit that your orders differ widely from those of police captains.”
Then he added, with quiet significance, ”No; I shall not repent.”
”Mr. Merwyn, will you take an older man's advice?”
”Certainly. Indeed, I am under your orders, also, for the night.”
”I'm glad to hear it, for it will be a night of deep anxiety to me. Make a very light dinner, and take more refreshment later. You are too much exhausted to dine now. You need not tell me of your morning adventures. I learned about those at headquarters.”
”I have heard about them too,” Marian added, with a look that warmed the young fellow's soul. ”I have also had a visit from Mrs.
Ghegan, and her story was not so brief as yours.”
”From what section have you just come?” Mr. Vosburgh asked.
Merwyn gave a brief description of the condition of affairs on the west side, ending with an account of the fight at the barricades.